Machine for operating upon sheet materials



Dec. 29, 1936. R Q slMMONS 2,065,621

. MACI 'IINE FOR OPERATING UPON SHEET MJVIJERIALSv Filed Feb. 1, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 VVE/VTUE Dec. 29, 1936. R. c. SIMMONS 2,065,621

' MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SHEET MATERIALS Filed Feb. 1, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet z WVE/VTUFP. 03% K W EM (KW Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ralph Simmons, deceased, late of Beverly,

Mass, by Elizabeth Di. Simmons, executrix,

Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, ration of New Jersey Paterson, N. .L, a corpo- Application February 1, 1935, Serial No. 4,556

8 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for operating upon sheet material and is herein illustrated as embodied in a die press for producing blanks for use in forming pieced heel lifts.

In the manufacture of leather heels it is customary to make use of a number of lifts which are built up in layers to form a heel block of the size and height required. In order to economize in material the separate layers or lifts are often each made from more than one piece of sheet stock, thus making it possible to utilize small pieces of stock which might otherwise be wasted. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved mechanism for cutting blanks such as pieced heel lift blanks from sheet material and one which will be particularly effective to produce blanks of a number of different sizes in an economical manner.

To this end and as illustrated the invention provides a plurality of cutting devices each comprising a die and a cutting block associated therewith, together with a power operated member for applying pressure to a selected cutting block and manually operable means for opera tively connecting the selected cutting block with the presser member. By means of this construction the several blanks of different shapes necessary to produce single heel lifts can be produced rapidly from small pieces of sheet material such as leather.

Preferably and as shown, each of the cutting blocks is carried by a plunger or spindle which can be moved manually into proximity to the corresponding cutting die, there being a pawl which is automatically operated upon movement of the spindle to connect the presser member to the spindle in producing a power operation thereon. The presser member may be continuously operated, or intermittently operated by means of a treadle but, in any event, the presser member will not produce a power operation until a selected cutting block has been moved into operative position relatively to its die and the work positioned thereon.

The invention in its various aspects is set forth in the following detailed description, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of a press illustrating one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation on an enlarged scale of a portion of the press illustrating in detail the die and plunger mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a side View partly in section of the die and plunger mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of a die and its cooperating cutting block; and

Fig. 5 is a view illustrating blanks of various shapes produced by the machine and which together constitute a complete heel lift.

The machine illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings consists of a frame it] carrying a plurality of cutting devices conveniently arranged in a row, each device comprising a hollow die l2 and a cutting block 94 carried by a spindle it which is slidably mounted in the frame for movement toward and away from the die in producing pressure applying operations upon sheet material, such as leather, positioned upon the die. Each of the spindles I 6, selectively, can be operated by a hand lever H3, best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to bring its cutting block down toward the work and is arranged to be operatively connected to power applying means including a reciprocating presser member which extends the full width of the machine adjacent to the spindles Hi. The dies l2 have cutting edges 22 of various shapes for producing complete heel lifts or for producing blanks such as the pieces 24, 26 and 28, illustrated in Fig. 5 and which are of such sizes and shapes that when the blanks are assembled they will form a complete heel lift as shown. A sufficient number of dies are mounted upon the frame so that complete heel lift assemblies can be produced in several different ways, thus making it possible to utilize small pieces of leather of a large number of various shapes and sizes. The dies l2 are mounted upon a plate 30 which is removable from the machine so that other plates bearing dies for producing blanks of different combinations of sizes and shapes may be substituted.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, each of the cutting blocks I4 is only slightly larger than the die with which it cooperates and its striking surface is similar in shape to the edge of the die which facilitates the centering of the work upon the die in that the edges of the block can be used as a gage and as an indication of the size of the piece of stock required. Each cutting block is removably secured to a spindle by a stud 32 which extends into an opening 34 therein and is secured in position by a screw 36. Each spindle is mounted in upper and lower guides 38 secured by bolts 48 to lateral frame extensions 42, the lower end of the spindle being provided with a slot 44 in which is positioned a key 46 forming part of the lower guide, thus to prevent turning of the spindle in its guides while permitting heightwise movement of the spindle. The weight of each spindle I6 and cutting block I4 is counterbalanced by a heavy block 58, carried at one end of a lever 52, the other end of which is pivotally connected at 54 to the upper end of the spindle I6, the lever being supported at its central portion 56 by a link 58 mounted on a pivot 88 which is carried by a stud 62 on the frame. The stud 62 also carries a pivot 64 upon which the hand lever I8 is mounted.

Each spindle I 6 is arranged to be moved downwardly upon operation of its hand lever I8. To this end, each hand lever I8 carries a pawl 66 adapted to engage a sleeve 68 loosely carried upon the spindle, the lower end of the sleeve 68 being adapted to engage a stop in the form of a collar I8 in screw-threaded engagement with the spindle. Rotation of the sleeve 68 is prevented by a pin I2 carried by the spindle and slidably engaging the walls of a slot I4 in the sleeve. Downward movement of the lever I8 causes the pawl 66 to force the sleeve 68 and the spindle in a downward direction toward the die, the arrangement of the parts being such that the cutting block I4 can be brought down close to a piece of material positioned upon the cutting edges of the die after which the pawl 86 is thrown out or disconnected from the sleeve. This is accomplished by means of a cam I6 secured to the lower end of the link by bolts 18 and having an inclined cam face 88 adapted to engage a corresponding face 82 upon a cam 84 which is carried by a pivot 86 on the presser member 28. The purpose of this construction is to release the manually operated mechanism after the work is located upon the die and centered thereon but prior to an operation of the presser member in forcing the cutting block down upon the die. This prevents a second power operation upon the spindle until the hand lever has been released, thus contributing to the safety of the operator,

For producing a power operation of a selected cutting block upon its cooperating die there are provided means operable after depression of the hand lever I8 for connecting the presser member 28 to the spindle of the selected block. To this end, there is mounted upon each pivot 86 a pawl 88 which is adapted to engage a shoulder 98 upon the inner side of the sleeve 68. The pawl 88 is normally forced inwardly toward the sleeve by a spring 92 which bears upon a shoulder 94 at the upper end of the pawl. During normal reciprocating motion of the presser member 28 the pawl 88 slides up and down along the sleeve 68 but when the lever I8 is depressed the shoulder 94 is brought downwardly below the nose of the pawl which is forced inwardly by the spring 82 to engage the shoulder. Subsequent operation of the presser member in a downward direction thus will cause a downward movement of the spindle and cutting block I4 to produce a dieing-out operation. The length of the stroke of the spindle is regulated by adjusting the collar I8 heightwise of the spindle with the result that the position of the sleeve 68 is likewise adjusted, thereby controlling the position at which the shoulder 98 will be engaged by the pawl 88.

In order to release the pawl 88 from the sleeve 68 after a power operation has occurred there is provided a dog 96 pivotally mounted on a stud 98 carried by the presser member 28 and having a nose portion I88 adapted to engage the under side of the shoulder 94 on the pawl 88. Upon downward movement of the spindle and presser member the dog 96 is free to rotate about its pivot and does not exert any pressure upon the pawl 88, but upon the return movement of the presser member the rear portion I82 of the dog engages a stop I84 which is effective to rotate the dog in a clockwise direction causing the nose I88 to force the shoulder 94 in a counterclockwise direction with the result that the pawl 88 is rotated away from the shoulder 88 releasing the sleeve 68 and spindle I6 which is carried to its uppermost position by the weight 58.

The presser member 28 is supported at its ends by rods I86 which are slidably mounted in the frame and connected to cross heads I88 which are reciprocated by links II8 secured to eccentrics II2 on a drive shaft H4. The shaft H4 is conveniently driven, by a flywheel II6 connected to the shaft through a clutch II8 which is operated by clutch lever I28, a rod I22, and

a bell crank I24. The shaft may be operated to reciprocate the presser member 28 continuously or, as shown, connections may be provided for stopping the shaft and presser member after a single revolution. Clutch operation is initiated by a treadle I26 effective through a rod I28 to operate ratchet mechanism generally indicated by reference character I38 and controlled by an eccentric I32 on the shaft II4 for causing engagement of the clutch upon depression of the treadle and release of the clutch and operation of a brake I34 at the end of a single revolution of the shaft.

In the operation of the machine the operator selects a small piece of sheet material, such as leather, corresponding approximately in size and shape to one or another of the dies I 2, places the material upon the cutting edges of the die, and depresses the hand lever I8 to force the spindle I6 downwardly thus to bring the cutting block I4 down upon the work. After centering the material upon the die, using the edges of the cutting block as a gage, the treadle H4 is depressed causing a reciprocation of the presser member 28 which through the pawl 88 engages the shoulder 98 to cause downward movement of the spindle forcing the cutting block into engagement with the die thereby producing a blank.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for operating upon sheet material having a plurality of cutting devices each of which comprises a cutting die and a cooperating cutting block, means for mounting each of the cutting blocks for movements heightwise of the frame of the machine, manually controlled means for moving each of the blocks separately toward its cooperating die, a presser member mounted for reciprocation heightwise of the frame independently of the cutting blocks and dies, and means carried by the presser member for causing a power operation of a cutting block in response to movement of the manually controlled means.

2. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a plurality of dies mounted in a row upon the frame, a plurality of spindles slidably mounted in the frame, cutting blocks carried by the spindles, each of the cutting blocks being arranged to cooperate with a die, a presser member extending along the spindles and arranged for reciprocation heightwise of the frame independently of the spindles, manually operable means associated with each of the spindles for displacing the same thereby moving the block carried by a selected spindle into the vicinity of the corresponding die, and means for operatively connecting the selected spindle to the presser member upon operation of the manually operable means.

3. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a die mounted in the frame, a spindle slidably mounted for movement heightwise of the frame and die, a cutting block carried by a spindle and arranged for cooperation with the die to form a blank, a manually operable pawl for moving the spindle toward the die, a reciprocating presser member, and a pawl carried by the presser member for engaging the spindle upon movement of the cutting block into proximity to the cutting edges of the die.

4. In a machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a die mounted in the frame, a spindle slidably mounted in the frame for heightwise movement relatively to the die, a cutting block carried by the spindle and arranged for cooperation with the die to produce a blank, a hand lever pivoted to the frame, a pawl carried by the hand lever and adapted to engage a portion of the spindle for forcing the cutting block toward the die, a presser member mounted for reciprocation heightwise of the frame adjacent to the spindle, and a pawl carried by the presser member and arranged to engage the spindle to produce a power stroke thereof subsequent to operation of the hand lever.

5. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a die carried by the frame, a spindle slidably mounted in the frame and carrying at its lower end a cutting block arranged for cooperation with the die to produce a blank, a manually operable pawl for depressing the spindle, a presser member mounted for reciprocation in the frame, means on the presser member for causing disengagement of the pawl from the spindle upon downward movement thereof, and means upon the presser member for engaging the spindle to cause a power operation thereof.

6. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting die mounted in the frame, a spindle mounted for movement heightwise of the frame and carrying a cutting block in alinement with the die, a hand lever, a pawl carried by the lever and arranged to engage the spindle for depressing it upon depression of the hand lever, a reciprocating power member, a pawl carried by the power member and arranged to engage a portion of the spindle to produce a power operation of the cutting block in a downward direction, means for disconnecting the first-mentioned pawl prior to a power operation, and means for disconnecting the second-mentioned pawl from the spindle after a power operation.

7. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting die mounted in the frame, a spindle mounted for movement heightwise of the die and carrying a cutting block, a sleeve carried by the spindle, a stop on the spindle for preventing downward movement of the sleeve relatively to the spindle, a reciprocating presser member adjacent to the spindle, manually operable means for engaging the sleeve to force it in a preliminary movement toward the die, and a pawl on the presser member for engaging a portion of the sleeve for causing a power stroke of the cutting block.

8. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a die mounted in the frame, a spindle slidably mounted for movement heightwise of the frame and carrying a cutting block in alinement with the die, means normally operative to force the spindle in a direction away from the die, manually controlled mechanism for moving the spindle toward the die, a power operated'presser member movable heightwise of the frame, and means for operatively connecting the presser member and the spindle after an operation of the manually controlled mechanism for causing a power operation of the spindle.

ELIZABETH D. SIMMONS, Emecutria: of the Will of Ralph C. Simmons,

Deceased. 

